Page 161 of Phantom Mine

“No.”

“—of your engagement.”

“No.”

“Vale…”

“No! Thiago, don’t do this,” I beg. “Please don’t do this. I’m not ready.”

Hysteria echoes in my words. I’m no longer being careful to whisper. My denials echo loudly in the quiet apartment.

“I’ve vetted him,Vale. He’s a good man. Young, rich—”

“I don’t care. I don’t fucking care.” I shake my head like he’s standing in front of me and can see it. “I won’t do it. Whoever he is, I won’t marry him.”

For long seconds, Thiago stays silent on the other end of the line. Finally, he says, “I wasn’t expecting you to necessarily be happy about the news, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this reaction either. You’ve never pushed back this seriously when we’ve discussed it in the past.”

I didn’t fight it in the past because I was a lifeless, empty shell. Because I had no one else in my heart. Not being with Matteo is one thing, but being forced into the arms of someone else is another altogether. I’m seconds away from being sick to my stomach at the thought of touching another man.

“Maybe I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it,” I snap angrily. “Maybe I didn’t think you’d sell your only remaining sister to a stranger.” He inhales sharply. It’s a low blow and I know it. I don’t allow myself to regret it. “I’m allowed to be furious, I have every right to be.”

Thiago is pissed, I can tell by the tense silence echoing through the line.

“Is there a reason you’ve changed your mind?” he asks silkily. “Maybe someone who’s changed it for you?”

I know that tone. I recognize it instantly.

There’s a reason my brother’s nickname isDiablo, and it’s not because he’s a particularly nice guy. That tone of voice usually precedes him inflicting unspeakable pain on another man.

I won’t let that man be Matteo.

My lips thin into a firm line. “No.”

“Are you sure?” he hums, voice outrightly dangerous now. “Because I will happily remove any obstacles to this engagement for you if need be.”

“There aren’t any,” I grit through clenched teeth, hating my brother for the first time in my life.

“Good,” he bites back sharply. Then, as if remembering who he’s speaking to, his voice softens. “I’m not giving you away to just anybody,Vale. He, along with many others, were carefully and extensively vetted before even being allowed on a list with your name at the top. There’s a reason I picked Carlos Córdoba. He’s a good man and you’ll get along very well; I believe you’ll even grow to love him one day.”

Thiago has no idea just how impossible that is. Time won’t dull the pain or shrink my love for Matteo. There’s no room in my heart for anyone but him and there never will be.

“You’re ruining my life,” I croak past the mass blocking my throat.

Pause. “I’m sorry you feel that way,hermana.”

I always thought that our story would end with Matteo walking away from me. I never considered that it could be the other way around, that I’d be the one setting him free.

Maybe it’ll be a kindness for him. I have to try and see it that way.

“There’s no other way to feel about it. You’re projecting your story with Tess onto me, but it won’t end the same way. I won’t love Carlos. I’ll spend a life in misery because of you,” I accuse. “That’s what you’re sentencing me to and I’llneverforgive you for it.”

I hang up before he can say anything else, then run to the bathroom and vomit my heart out right into the toilet.

Chapter Forty-Three

Valentina

The key to Matteo’s apartment is heavy in my palm. I play with it, flicking it distractedly between my fingers. Anything to put off walking into his flat and breaking the news of my engagement to him.

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